Help Us Honor and Celebrate East Austin!

We need your feedback! Capital Metro and its community partners are asking for feedback on a proposed art installation celebrating the African-American community of East Austin. The art will be installed at the bus stop located on the southeast corner of 12th and Chicon.

Capital Metro is working hard to improve all of its bus stops to keep the Austin community beautiful and accessible to everyone. The bus stop at 12th and Chicon has gone untouched since 2003. The framed images and historical information installed at this bus stop celebrate the African-American community of East Austin, honoring Austinites like brothers E.H. and L.C. Anderson. Unfortunately, the mini history exhibit has weathered and faded over time. The new art installation will help preserve the rich history of the neighborhood and help tell the story of East Austin and its people.

Before we move forward, we want to hear from you! Join us for a community event to share your voice and hear about the plans our community partners have for the site. The event is on Tuesday, May 2 at Huston-Tillotson’s Dickey-Lawless Auditorium, 900 Chicon St., from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Huston-Tillotson is served by Local Routes 2, 4, 21, 22 and 320. Parking is also available at the Huston-Tillotson west lot located on Chalmers Street.

8 thoughts on “Help Us Honor and Celebrate East Austin!”

This is fine. In fact it’s great. But as a daily rider I have to tell you that my first priority for bus stop improvements is shelter from sun and rain. We have unsheltered stops along Burnet Rd., for example, where you practically have to stand in a ditch to wait for your bus. Celebrating the history of east Austin is important. But it’s more important for institutions like the Public Library than for the transit system. A century ago Austin had transit service on Congress Avenue. We could celebrate that history by restoring that service.

Thanks for the comment, Donald. I’d encourage you to take our Project Connect survey. We’re taking public input now on where we should devote resources to future high-capacity transit (like, say, Congress Ave). Your thoughts and opinions are important and can absolutely influence where future service is placed.

(And, really, anyone else can fill it out too. It’s not just for Donald. Please, everyone, take part and tell us what y’all think!)

As for the bus stop shelters, I agree that shelter from the elements would be great for all of our bus stops. However, Capital Metro prioritizes bus shelters at stops that are used by 50 or more passengers a day, or are close to social service agencies like medical facilities and schools./PJP

Thanks, Josh, for reading and for the suggestion. As mentioned above, Capital Metro must work within its limited resources to provide service to the region and, so, prioritizes bus shelters at stops that are used by 50 or more passengers a day, or are close to social service agencies like medical facilities and schools. Those are the stops that feature shelter from the elements, the ones that are used most often.

As for this particular stop, the current display hasn’t been updated since 2003 and is severely weathered and deteriorated. Capital Metro is working with community partners to update and repair what’s there.

if you have to work with limited resources—you need to spread out budget cuts evenly. Stop cutting services to people who must use public transit as the only means of balancing your budget. Cut staff salaries and other expenses such as t-shirts, sweatshirts…etc